


Too Close

by zedeeo



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst, Case Fic, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, M/M, Moreid, Mutual Pining, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Dancing, Worried Derek, gay idiots, haley is alive and well, jemily mention, oblivious gays, penelope and rossi father/daughter relationship, spencer reid deserves a break, spencer reid is cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:34:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29489130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zedeeo/pseuds/zedeeo
Summary: There's an UnSub targeting male couples at gay clubs, and Derek and Spencer end up getting tasked with going undercover as a couple to lure him out. They start to doubt how much of it was acting, however, and things don't go as planned.
Relationships: Derek Morgan & Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau & Emily Prentiss, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22





	Too Close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team is out partying when they get a case. Garcia briefs them on it and they head out with not a moment to waste. Spencer seems distracted.

The team is out at a club on a Friday night, and everyone's a little tipsy. Penelope is dancing wildly and Rossi is trying, and failing, to match her energy. Hotch and Haley are dancing cutely not far from them. Spencer, Derek, Emily and JJ are at a table sharing stories. Derek thinks Emily is being very obvious with her fluttering eyelashes and adoring looks at JJ, but he'd let them be. JJ's so oblivious usually, so maybe Emily not hiding her feelings would do them both some good. Derek looked over to Spencer, to see him absent-mindedly gazing around the room. He looked bored. Derek guessed going clubbing wouldn't be as much fun for Spencer as it was for the rest of the group, considering he rarely drank and wasn't exactly the biggest social butterfly. Of course he enjoyed spending time with his friends, but then JJ and Emily were so focused on each other and Derek was the only one not on the dancefloor, for once.

"Hey, pretty boy." Spencer turned to look at him, a smile growing on his face at the nickname. "You got any exciting stories to share? It's just been us three telling them, what about you?"

He'd been talking to Spencer specifically, purposefully not really including JJ and Emily, but they were too busy flirting to even notice Derek had asked Spencer anything.

Spencer scoffed. "Me? Any stories I have that are exciting enough to tell you've been there for, so they wouldn't be very entertaining I'm afraid."  
"What, no tales of adventure from your days before the FBI?" Spencer chuckled at that, and Derek loved the sight of it. Then Spencer sat up straight, like he'd had an idea.

"Oh, well, I _could_ tell you about the episode of Star Trek I rewatched the other night, if you want an adventure story..."

"Oh oh no, you know I think I'm right on that front..." Derek protested hastily.

"Really, are you sure? It was really fascinating I'm telling you..." Before Reid could delve into a fully detailed explanation of the episode, guaranteed to include more than a few tangents, Derek's phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket.

"Oh man, what a shame Reid, it looks like we've got a case." Spencer looked genuinely disappointed and Derek actually felt bad for not listening. Maybe he'd ask about it on the jet if they had the time.

"Next time, kid, next time." Derek patted Reid's shoulder and grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair. "Hey, lovebirds, sorry to interrupt but, our presence has been requested." He said to JJ and Emily, musing at how both of them blushed at the nickname. "Hey, Reid, go and fetch Penelope and Rossi, would ya? I'll get Mr. and Mrs. Hotchner."

~

A while later, the team had sobered up and they're all sitting around the round table as Garcia hands out their files and starts briefing them on their case. "Your dose of horror for tonight, ladies and gentlemen, is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Over the last month, male couples have been disappearing from gay bars at night and turning up by morning with their..." She sighed. "...genitalia mutilated and their bodies found discarded amongst the trash in alleyways." She pressed the remote and pictures of the victims before and after their death flash up on the screen, as well as the bars they were taken from and the alleyways they were found in.

Hotch looked up from his file to address everyone. "The victims are always found together and sloppily hidden, so that's the reason they are so quickly found. There have been three couples murdered so far, all similar victimology."

"The UnSub seems to be escalating. Six murders in total already, why weren't we called in sooner?" Derek added, slightly annoyed.

"The Atlanta police force wanted to keep the murders as quiet as possible, and hoped they would stop by themselves... We're being called in now because the police chief was sent this letter - " A few images flash up on the screen of a messy looking letter and the envelope it was delivered in. Spencer gets up and walks over to the screen to investigate. " - claiming to be from the killer." Garcia answered.

" 'I have been ignored for too long. You're all idiots if you think you can sweep this under the rug. I want my name in big letters on the front page of every newspaper in the city. I want every disgusting couple like the ones I've killed to live in fear for the rest of their sinful lives because you will never catch me. I bet you'll bring in the best men you have and they still won't be able to get me. If only you could see how I see, that I'm doing you all a favour. I'm slowly ridding the world of these couples that should never have been allowed to exist in the first place. My next kill will happen on the 7th of next month. It's a race.' " Spencer read aloud. "He actually has done us a favour by giving us a lot to work with here; I can analyse this and get a lot more from it than I could a straight to the point, one-sentence letter."

"Alright, Reid you work on that on the jet, we have a deadline so we shouldn't waste any time here. Wheels up in 20." Hotch said, already getting out of his chair. The rest of the team followed suit.

~


End file.
